Hinny Alt Files? Im Going Through Withdrawals Until You Post The Next Chapter And Will Take Any Hinny

Hinny Alt files? Im going through withdrawals until you post the next chapter and will take any Hinny you can give

Ah ha! Oh, this file. Honestly, you know that this one is? This is the indulgent file where I wrote a ton of alternate scenes for The Changeling and Armistice. Like a bunch of, ‘well, what if Harry and Ginny had gotten together at this point in the story? what would that have looked like?’ What if in the middle of their huge row in the cloister, Harry had given into that urge to just lean over and kiss her? Or, what if in that final scene the night before the trio left for Australia, Harry had just leaned in a little closer and Ginny had thrown all fear aside and kissed him? You know, those kind of things. Here, have one in all it’s half-completed glory. I doubt I’ll ever do anything with these anyway.

To be honest, Ginny still isn’t sure herself why Harry agreed to do this. But watching him with Reiko, the way he looks so comfortable talking about something he clearly loves, it reminds her of the DA. She wonders if maybe Harry is missing it too.

He really is a great teacher. He’s patient and never condescending, and even Reiko seems grudgingly willing to admit that she learned a lot in the short half hour they spend together.

“Thanks, Harry,” Reiko says when they’re done, shaking his hand.

“Sure,” Harry says, smiling at her.

Reiko heads up towards the castle, pausing when Ginny doesn’t immediately follow.

“I’ll catch up with you,” Ginny says, waving her on.

“Sure,” Reiko says, looking between the two of them. “See you later.”

Once Reiko is gone, Ginny turns and smiles at Harry. “That was…really great. Thanks so much for doing this.”

Harry’s staring down at his feet, suddenly looking awkward. “No problem,” he says.

She touches his arm. “Seriously. It means a lot.” On impulse, she leans in and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. She pulls back, giving him an embarrassed smile. “See you later.”

She moves as if to go back up the castle, but his hand on her arm stops her. “Ginny.”

“Yeah?” she asks, turning back to look at him. There’s an expression on his face that inexplicably makes her want to squirm. She forces herself to stand still and wait.

“Hogsmeade,” he blurts.

“What about it?” The first trip is coming up in a few days.

“I thought maybe…”

Ginny leans forward, completely thrown to see Harry quite this flustered. “You thought?”

“You would like to go there. With me.” The words are kind of tumbled together, but she hears them distinctly all the same.

“With you,” she repeats.

He rubs at the back of his head. “Well, uh, yeah.”

“Like…a date?” she asks, just needing to be really clear on exactly what is happening, because her body feels a little funny.

His chin comes up, his shoulders squaring like he’s committing the idea. “Yeah.”

Ginny is so completely thrown by this that she does nothing more than stare at him for a long moment. She can feel her brain stuttering helplessly under the basic thought Harry wants to date me? Harry…likes me?

How has she missed this? How could she possibly have not noticed?

She doesn’t even get to consider her own feelings, because Harry pulls back away from her.

“It’s fine,” he says, giving her a brittle smile. “Forget I asked.”

And then he’s walking away from her.

She considers calling out after him, but honestly has no idea what she would say.

*     *    *

She doesn’t see Harry anywhere the next few days, like he has some secret way of knowing where she is at all times so he can avoid her. It’s disconcerting.

She uses the time to think it all through though, to consider the offer from all angles. To figure out what she would have said if he hadn’t walked off so quickly. It doesn’t take her that long, considering.

And Harry is still nowhere to be found.

Still, strategy has always been one of her strengths, so she settles in to wait.

On Saturday morning, she waits by the gates, stepping out on the path next to Harry as he passes. He nearly stumbles over his feet as he shoots her a comical look of surprise, and she really shouldn’t find that attractive, yet here she is.

“You never let me answer,” she says, as if their conversation has just been picked up after moments rather than days.

“I, uh,” he mumbles, giving Ron and Hermione panicked looks.

Ginny looks at her brother. “Do you think we could have a minute?”

They look at Harry and after a moment, he nods.

They walk off, Ron looking back at the multiple times. Ginny waits until they disappear around the corner.

“Like I said, you never let me answer.”

Harry has recovered himself, looking straight ahead with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “I think your expression spoke for itself,” he says.

“Did it? What exactly did I look like?”

“Appalled.”

“Probably more like…shocked.”

He glances over at her. “Is that better?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t do well with surprises. It takes me a while to,” she gestures at her head, “work things out.”

He frowns.

“I honestly had no idea you thought about me…that way. I’m just Ron’s annoying little sister.”

“You aren’t annoying,” he says. 

She looks at him, amused by his automatic defense of her. “Really?”

He sighs, starting back down the path. “Well, I’m finding you annoying right now, that’s for sure.”

She jogs to catch up, stepping across him, and he has to stumble to a stop to narrowly avoid running into her.

She smiles at him. “You really are just…” She shakes her head, not really able to put this feeling in her chest into words. She thinks she may want to say adorable, but isn’t sure how he’d take that in his current mood.

He blows out a breath. “I guess it’s too much to hope you’d be kind enough to just forget I ever asked.”

“Don’t be stupid, Harry,” she says. “I’m rarely kind.”

With that, she starts down the path, looking back at him and waiting for him to follow.

They walk the rest of the way to the village in silence.

 …

She basically spends the rest of the day near him, talking with Neville and Luna, submitting herself to confused glances from Ron and something almost a little smug from Hermione.

At the end of the day, he walks her back up to the castle. When they near the gates, she turns to him. “This was fun.”

He still looks like has no idea what the hell just happened.

She thinks Harry is maybe one of those people who only gets it when he’s hit over the head with something. So she decides to kiss him. It’s little more than a brush of her lips against the corner of his mouth because he’s kind of tall and hard to reach.

He lets out a small sound of surprise, but she’s pulling back before he can react. He looks stunned, but also pleased, his hand lifting to touch where she kissed him.

“Yes, by the way,” she says back over her shoulder as she walks away.

“What?” he calls after her.

“My answer. It was yes.”

Smiling to herself, she heads back into the castle.

Ginny Weasley’s Social Life

There’s a huge idea in the fandom that Ginny Weasley is popular. And this isn’t exactly incorrect.

By HBP, she’s well-liked and appears to have friends in a variety of circles. Boys find her attractive. She’s a member of the Quidditch team. People laugh at her jokes.

But before anyone imagines that Ginny’s Hogwarts years were a cakewalk, let’s look back on how she got there.

First year (CS)

Ginny starts out a bit nervous, but hopefully makes some fledgling friendships with her dormitory mates. But before those friendships could get off the ground, Ginny is drawn in by Riddle. Her dormitory mates/classmates (hopefully) continue to be friendly to her, but she’s becoming more and more moody and withdrawn. Her dormitory mates, who barely had a chance to get to know her, shrug and let her be.

She establishes a friendship with Colin Creevy, but he’s petrified two months into the year. She’s distraught, and it’s hinted that this is when she starts to suspect her own involvement. Ginny withdraws further into herself.

Those who’ve had classes with her see her as quiet and slightly odd. Her class performance is spotty and her confidence has never been lower.

Second year (PA)

Ginny’s starting from scratch. She almost certainly has no friends.

The alliances within her dormitory have already been established, and she’s the odd one out. Her dormitory mates probably see her as the moody secretive unfriendly girl with whom they share a room. She’s the Neville of her dorm, and has had her confidence dashed by her past experience. Hogwarts was where she was violated, and it takes time to be comfortable again.

But instead of wallowing, she starts slowly building friendships and building a social network for herself.

Among the Gryffindor second years who had shared all of their classes with her the previous year, she’s quiet Ginny Weasley. And she never really feels like she can escape that first impression.

But to a Gryffindor third year or a Ravenclaw second year, she’s largely a blank slate. So she gravitates toward people that are not in her year, not in her house, or both. People that are less likely to have known Ginny Weasley circa first year.

Third year (GF)

By third year, she’s doing significantly better. She’s probably still the odd one out in her dormitory, but she’s got the twins, Ron, Hermione, and (probably) Colin. She’s also establishing friendships with people like Neville, who is similarly isolated from his year mates. She doesn’t view herself as having particularly high social currency and she’s probably right, but she’s happier and that’s what’s important.

You’ll notice that Ginny tends to have a higher than average number of male friends. This is partially opportunity (she meets male friends like Neville via her brothers), but it’s mostly a matter of comfort level. Ginny is neither a complete tomboy nor a girly-girl. She’s comfortable interacting with boys, but she’s also comfortable with being the only girl in a pack of boys and doesn’t feel the need to give up her identity as a girl just to fit in.

She continues to broaden her circle during third year, and by the end of the year she has a bonafide boyfriend, Michael Corner. This transition also coincides with the beginning of her transition from a cute young girl to a beautiful young woman.

Fourth year (OP)

She’s still getting her feet wet with her relationship with Michael Corner. She quickly establishes herself as friends with Michael’s friends Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein. Through Michael, she’s strengthened her social network in Ravenclaw.

When the first meeting of the D.A. takes place, it’s pretty clear that her invited guests were Michael, his friends, and probably Luna as well. She might have been the one to invite the Creeveys, if they didn’t find out on their own.

She also starts playing Quidditch for Gryffindor, which raises her profile further. And like Luna and the others, she benefits from the cross-house interaction the D.A. provided. The D.A. also provides her with a major confidence boost.

By this point, she’s starting to resemble HBP Ginny. She’s comfortable speaking in front of large groups, has a variety of friends across houses, and people see her as someone who’s fun/vivacious.

Fifth year (HBP)

Ginny comes back onto the scene full force.

She’s still on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and has quickly become one of the most talented members of the team. She’s struck up a few new friendships with people like Demelza Robbins. At this point, she’s also dating Dean Thomas. Dean is a better fit than Michael, and she’s much more public/official about the relationship. She doesn’t bother hiding it from Ron or anyone else. She also seems to become friends with Seamus via Dean.

And this is where Harry (and therefore the reader) takes notice. He sees a vivacious, talented, clever, funny, confident 16-year-old girl. But Ginny’s social journey has actually been a step behind everyone else.

hey, i just dont understand why people assume that harry is better at quidditch then ginny, even tho ginny is the professional one. in many fics i've seen harry is the one teaching their kids how to fly, while ginny sits back and watches, like what? i was wondering what your thoughts on it are <3

Oh, I’m sure there are many reasons ranging from people just loving to see Harry being the best at things, people liking/being used to the idea that natural talent is what makes someone good rather than the less glamorous hard work, or internalized misogyny that just makes it more attractive in our heads for the guy to be better at a thing than the girl, or more sense for a dad to teach his kids about ‘sports’.

Like, it’s possible to be above the curve at something when you’re 11 and 12 and then everyone else just catches up or surpasses you. But maybe enough people have suffered gifted child syndrome that they prefer the fantasy in their fic, and that’s fine too.

Personally, I think Ginny is the best at Quidditch of all her brothers and better than Harry and I think she got there through hard work, practice, and endless drive to be the best.

(Though I could buy Ginny letting Harry teach the kids to fly a) because she knows it means a lot to him and he missed out on that stuff as a kid, and/or b) she’s like, YES PLEASE, I do this all day, let someone else handle it, and is happy to sit back and just watch her husband be hot and joyful with their kids. Just a thought.) 

Hi, I'm sorry I don't know if you've already answered this, but I was wondering why you made Bletchley the Slytherin captain instead of Montague? Also, was Millicent in the Inquisitorial Squad like she was in the books? I don't think so because she's in the Parlor, but I wanted to ask you anyway. I love your writing, but please don't feel pressured and take your time. Have a good day :)

The short answer is that Montague was the Chaser whose spot Ginny took. So he was no longer on the team, meaning Bletchley got the badge instead. (Which also allowed me to sidestep Montague, who JKR clearly made a kind of nasty dude. It was my way of trying to humanize the Slytherin I could while working around the already-established-as-horrid Slytherin.) Of course, in the process of answering this I am realizing a mistake I made in chapter 2 of The Changeling. I specifically mentioned Terrance Higgs as a kind of mean Chaser, which should have been Montague, seeing as how Higgs was the Seeker that Draco replaced. So whoops, my bad.

Millicent in the Inquisitorial Squad is another one of those moments. It was a matter of giving greater depth to Slytherin characters. Where I could, I just tried to explain why Harry’s perception was what it was. I couldn’t work around Crabbe and Goyle and Draco being nasty. And I left Pansy as the sort of coldly nasty character too. But I felt Millicent, of all of them, even though she had very specific, nasty run ins with Hermione, might have been really misunderstood. I also don’t like the way she is specifically pointed out in the text as being unattractive and more than likely fat and a physically mean and nasty bully. (Which boy, the ink I could spill on JKRs depiction of fatness as a negative trait, even Molly is just ‘plump’ like there has to be some distinction to tie to moral lines–like looking down on someone who is frumpy is classist, but being wary of fat people is just good sense. Come on, JKR, you’re better than this.) So I decided that of all the Slytherin that were established in the narrative that I could give an alternate approach to, I wanted it to be her. So I thought about who she could be, not to completely change her. I was happy to leave her aloofness, her prickly approach (which, if the text is any indication, she probably herself was probably the recipient of some nasty treatment due to her looks). She doesn’t owe anyone smiles and pleasantness. She can be exactly who she is and still be three-dimensional and pivotal and important. So was she still an Inquisitorial Squad member? No, I don’t think so. I could maybe buy her working for Umbridge, but definitely not the Carrows. I’m not sure if we read that as a change I made to her character or a change that came about because of Ginny’s leadership in The Parlor. I like to think it’s the latter. As much as The Parlor girls expanded Ginny’s idea of who people can be, she also impacted her sisters’ understanding and approach to class lines and pureblood culture and the war in general.

Thanks for the ask!

I'm really surprised they've never done a body switching episode!!! that's a cartoon staple 🤌

Do you think Harry and Ginny fight often or not? And how do they make up at the end? I've always wondered about these things

Not as often or as constantly as Hermione and Ron. No, when Harry and Ginny fight, they aren’t casual flirty tiffs. The everyday small annoyances roll off both of them more or less. From the outside, they seem perfectly even-keel, Ginny’s occasional waspish comment just met with Harry’s wry amusement. They seem to understand each other perfectly.

All to say that when they do fight, it’s for the big things.

Their fights are almost always shouting matches because sometimes Harry just isn’t capable of putting things into words unless he’s shouting and Ginny’s patience isn’t endless and her temper has always been her weak point. They don’t fight very often, but when they do, they make it count, and it never happens in front of other people. Harry can’t stand to be made a spectacle of, and besides, their fights are brutal and personal, and things neither of them want to share with others. Ginny can be rash and thoughtless when she’s at her worst, and sometimes doubles down on her mistakes before coming to her senses. Harry’s more likely to retreat and get broody and snappish, but Ginny doesn’t let that lie, calling him out on it and never giving him space to stew. So, yeah, they don’t fight often, but when they do it’s deep and loud and a ‘bring the house down’ kind of a thing that they definitely have to train themselves out of once they have children. The only good thing about it is that they don’t leave anything on the table. It’s all out at once.  

But they also break fast, like a giant furious storm that leaves them heaving and breathless and exhausted, and instinctively seeking out the comfort of the other person. They fight hard but forgive quickly, but not just by repressing it all. They talk it out quietly in the exhausted aftermath, usually huddled together–everything nasty and held back and hidden already flung about and revealed and unable to be forgotten again, which lets them figure out how to do better, eventually falling back on apologies and physical contact and alternatively explosive and deeply emotional makeup sex. Ginny never fails to tell him she loves him after a fight, and it calms Harry more than anything else, this reconfirmation of what is between them, of what she feels for him. He isn’t as free and easy with his words, but never leaves her doubting how important and vital she is to him.